Sam Fried Sam FriedSam Fried has seen and photographed almost all North American birds. Meet Sam Previous Answers

Sounds like you are fortunate enough to have a pair of barn swallows nesting at your house. These small fork-tailed swallows are common migrants that nest in virtually every corner of the United States after spending the winter in the warmer climates of the tropics. Some barn swallows may have the longest migration of any North American land bird, traveling from The Yukon Territory or Alaska to Argentina for the winter, a distance of over 7,000 miles!

Unless you are a big fan of mosquitoes, barn swallows are fantastic to have around in summer, when they eat vast numbers of flying insects by swooping tirelessly over fields and meadows during the daylight hours. Frequently, they build their mud nests under the eaves of buildings, using grass, feathers, hair and other materials to bind the mud. They usually lay 4-5 brown-speckled white eggs, which hatch in 13-17 days. The young stay in the nest about 3 weeks after hatching. In warmer parts of their range, including Alabama, barn swallows may raise two broods each year. On a warm summer evening, you may see barn swallows elegantly skimming the surface of a small quiet pond, their technique for both drinking and bathing.

The bird you describe is probably the female, which has a whitish belly. The male usually has a rich orange breast and belly. Both sexes have a deep rust colored throat and their upper body glistens in deep blue-black. Both have long deeply forked tails, with the male's being somewhat longer than the female. Juveniles don't develop the long tail until they reach adulthood after one year.

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